My Top 20 by Year - 1948
by miran_kor | created - 26 Aug 2015 | updated - 4 months ago | PublicUnder construction and always in progress.
The Best films from this year (according to IMDb) I've seen (so far).
Out of (only) 127 films 'seen' (ie rated at IMDb).
(Dec 2023)
Notes:
- Features, shorts, docs and TV movies eligible ("A film is a film is a film.").
- TV mini-series are NOT (unless stated otherwise).
- My humble rates added (for films with the same rate just once or twice though).
- Films with the same rate are ordered arbitrarily. Feel free to re-order them at your will.
- When I saw more than 20 excellent films (9/10 or above in my book) from a certain year I'll try and list them ALL. That would make some lists much longer but all the excellentia deserves to be mentioned.
Cinema = cinema (big screen) viewing TV = TV viewing PC = download OL = online viewing VHS = VHS viewing
Yet to see (among many):
Kaze no naka no mendori (A Hen in the Wind, Ozu, 1948) State of the Union (Capra, 1948) Joan of Arc (Fleming, 1948) Command Decision (S. Wood, 1948) Les parents terribles (The Terrible Parents, Cocteau, 1948) Berlin Express (J. Tourneur, 1948) Senza pietà (Without Pity, Lattuada, 1948) Dios se lo pague (God Bless You, Amadori, 1948) Scott of the Antarctic (Frend, 1948) L'aigle à deux têtes (The Eagle with Two Heads, Cocteau, 1948) Sotto il sole di Roma (Under the Sun of Rome, Castellani, 1948) Fuga in Francia (Flight Into France, Soldati, 1948) Ulica Graniczna (Border Street, A. Ford, 1948) Maclovia (E. Fernández, 1948) Los tres huastecos (I. Rodríguez, 1948) La muerte camina en la lluvia (C. H. Christensen, 1948) Another Part of the Forest (M. Gordon, 1948) Les dernières vacances (The Last Vacation, Leenhardt, 1948) Der Apfel ist ab (The Original Sin, Käutner, 1948) Wanjia denghuo (The Lights of Ten Thousand Homes, Fu Shen, 1948) Krakatit (Vávra, 1948) Kampen om tungtvannet (The Battle of the Heavy Water, Dréville/Vibe-Müller, 1948) Film ohne Titel (Film Without a Name, Jugert, 1948) Berliner Ballade (The Ballad of Berlin, Stemmle, 1948) Rachel and the Stranger (N. Foster, 1948) Silver River (Walsh, 1948) Sitting Pretty (W. Lang, 1948) The Emperor Waltz (Wilder, 1948)
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1. Hamlet (1948)
Approved | 154 min | Drama
Prince Hamlet struggles over whether or not he should kill his uncle, whom he suspects has murdered his father, the former king.
Director: Laurence Olivier | Stars: Laurence Olivier, Jean Simmons, John Laurie, Esmond Knight
Votes: 18,410 | Gross: $7.09M
TV. 10/10.
2. The Cat That Hated People (1948)
Passed | 7 min | Family, Animation, Comedy
A black cat explains reason after reason why he cannot stand people, and opts to relocate to the moon. When he does, he finds characters there that make him realize people aren't so bad anyway.
Director: Tex Avery | Stars: Paul Frees, Colleen Collins, Pinto Colvig, Pat McGeehan
Votes: 874
OL.
3. Lucky Ducky (1948)
7 min | Family, Comedy, Animation
It's hunting season, and all the ducks are wisely staying undercover - apart from this freshly-hatched little duckling, who turns out to be more than a match for two inept would-be hunters...
Director: Tex Avery | Star: Tex Avery
Votes: 515
OL. 10/10.
4. Bicycle Thieves (1948)
Not Rated | 89 min | Drama
In post-war Italy, a working-class man's bicycle is stolen, endangering his efforts to find work. He and his son set out to find it.
Director: Vittorio De Sica | Stars: Lamberto Maggiorani, Enzo Staiola, Lianella Carell, Elena Altieri
Votes: 175,261 | Gross: $0.33M
TV. 9/10.
5. The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948)
Passed | 126 min | Adventure, Drama, Western
Two down-on-their-luck Americans searching for work in 1920s Mexico convince an old prospector to help them mine for gold in the Sierra Madre Mountains.
Director: John Huston | Stars: Humphrey Bogart, Walter Huston, Tim Holt, Bruce Bennett
Votes: 132,486 | Gross: $5.01M
TV.
6. Drunken Angel (1948)
Not Rated | 102 min | Crime, Drama, Romance
A drunken doctor with a hot temper and a violence-prone gangster with tuberculosis form a quicksilver bond.
Director: Akira Kurosawa | Stars: Takashi Shimura, Toshirô Mifune, Reizaburô Yamamoto, Michiyo Kogure
Votes: 13,368
PC.
7. A Divided World (1948)
8 min | Documentary, Short
A ten-minute study of wild animal life in a Swedish forest; stoat, fox, hare, and owl, who stalk and savage one another, are photographed with extraordinary vividness and intimacy. It is ... See full summary »
Director: Arne Sucksdorff
Votes: 66
OL.
8. The Little Orphan (1948)
Approved | 8 min | Animation, Short, Adventure
The Bide-a-Wee Mouse Home has sent the orphan mouse, Nibbles, to spend Thanksgiving with Jerry. But Jerry's cupboard is bare, and Nibbles is always hungry. They start by raiding Tom's milk ... See full summary »
Directors: Joseph Barbera, William Hanna | Star: William Hanna
Votes: 1,978
OL.
9. Kitty Foiled (1948)
Approved | 8 min | Animation, Short, Comedy
Tom subjects Jerry to his usual harassment; but the cat finds a new enemy, and the mouse finds a new friend, in the canary of the house.
Directors: Joseph Barbera, William Hanna | Stars: Frank Graham, William Hanna
Votes: 1,444
OL.
10. Tea for Two Hundred (1948)
Approved | 6 min | Animation, Comedy, Family
Donald is preparing a little picnic when he sees some ants passing by. He decides to tease one, ultimately by piling lots of food onto it. The ant eventually stumbles, but realizes Donald ... See full summary »
Director: Jack Hannah | Stars: Pinto Colvig, Clarence Nash
Votes: 819
OL.
11. The Little Soldier (1948)
11 min | Animation, Short, Family
An animated short film about a wounded toy soldier who return from war to his beloved ballerina.
Director: Paul Grimault
Votes: 364
OL. 9/10.
12. Germany Year Zero (1948)
Not Rated | 78 min | Drama
A young German boy faces the problems of the tough life in the immediate post-WWII Berlin.
Director: Roberto Rossellini | Stars: Edmund Moeschke, Ernst Pittschau, Ingetraud Hinze, Franz-Otto Krüger
Votes: 13,719
PC. 8/10.
13. La Terra Trema (1948)
Not Rated | 160 min | Drama
In rural Sicily, the fishermen live at the mercy of the greedy wholesalers. One family risks everything to buy their own boat and operate independently.
Director: Luchino Visconti | Stars: Luchino Visconti, Antonio Pietrangeli, Antonio Arcidiacono, Giuseppe Arcidiacono
Votes: 5,598
PC.
14. They Caught the Ferry (1948)
11 min | Short, Drama, Horror
A man and a woman on a motorcycle arrive with a ferry to Assens. They want to catch the next ferry in Nyborg, on the other side of the island, but this ferry will leave in three quarters of... See full summary »
Director: Carl Theodor Dreyer | Star: Joseph Koch
Votes: 1,330
OL.
15. Red River (1948)
Passed | 133 min | Drama, Western
Dunson leads a cattle drive, the culmination of over 14 years of work, to its destination in Missouri. But his tyrannical behavior along the way causes a mutiny, led by his adopted son.
Directors: Howard Hawks, Arthur Rosson | Stars: John Wayne, Montgomery Clift, Joanne Dru, Walter Brennan
Votes: 34,417
Cinema.
16. Oi Germanoi xanarhontai... (1948)
90 min | Comedy, Drama
A quiet and modest man, disappointed and embittered by the civil war that plagues Greece after WWII, faces Hitler and his Nazis who strike back to retake Greece.
Director: Alekos Sakellarios | Stars: Vasilis Logothetidis, Nitsa Tsaganea, Ilia Livykou, Marina Smyrnaki
Votes: 615
OL.
17. Key Largo (1948)
Approved | 100 min | Action, Crime, Drama
A man visits his war buddy's family hotel and finds a gangster running things. As a hurricane approaches, the two end up confronting each other.
Director: John Huston | Stars: Humphrey Bogart, Edward G. Robinson, Lauren Bacall, Lionel Barrymore
Votes: 43,998
VHS.
18. Fort Apache (1948)
Passed | 128 min | Drama, Western
At Fort Apache, an honorable and veteran war captain finds conflict when his regime is placed under the command of a young, glory hungry lieutenant colonel with no respect for the local Indian tribe.
Director: John Ford | Stars: John Wayne, Henry Fonda, Shirley Temple, Pedro Armendáriz
Votes: 19,699
TV.
19. Letter from an Unknown Woman (1948)
Not Rated | 87 min | Drama, Romance
A pianist about to flee from a duel receives a letter from a woman he cannot remember, who may hold the key to his downfall.
Director: Max Ophüls | Stars: Joan Fontaine, Louis Jourdan, Mady Christians, Marcel Journet
Votes: 13,648
PC.
20. The Snake Pit (1948)
Approved | 108 min | Drama, Mystery
A detailed chronicle of a woman during her stay in a mental institution.
Director: Anatole Litvak | Stars: Olivia de Havilland, Mark Stevens, Leo Genn, Celeste Holm
Votes: 8,435 | Gross: $10.00M
OL.
21. Oliver Twist (1948)
Not Rated | 105 min | Drama
In Charles Dickens' classic tale, an orphan wends his way from cruel apprenticeship to den of thieves in search of a true home.
Director: David Lean | Stars: Robert Newton, Alec Guinness, Kay Walsh, Francis L. Sullivan
Votes: 13,666
TV.
22. Macbeth (1948)
Passed | 107 min | Drama, History, War
Macbeth, the Thane of Glamis, receives a prophecy from a trio of witches that one day he will become King of Scotland. Consumed by ambition and spurred to action by his wife, Macbeth murders his king and takes the throne for himself.
Director: Orson Welles | Stars: Orson Welles, Jeanette Nolan, Dan O'Herlihy, Roddy McDowall
Votes: 7,799
PC.
23. I Remember Mama (1948)
Approved | 134 min | Drama, Family
A young writer recalls her ups and downs of growing up as one of four children to Norwegian immigrant parents in 1910s San Francisco.
Director: George Stevens | Stars: Irene Dunne, Barbara Bel Geddes, Oscar Homolka, Philip Dorn
Votes: 6,014
OL.
24. Der Prozeß (1948)
108 min | Drama
In 1882 a country girl disappears from a small Hungarian village. The inhabitants suggest that she was murdered by the Jews. Everything is done to accuse them before the trial. A study in ... See full summary »
Director: Georg Wilhelm Pabst | Stars: Maria Eis, Aglaja Schmid, Marianne Schönauer, Ewald Balser
Votes: 144
OL.
25. Spring in a Small Town (1948)
98 min | Drama, Romance
A lonely housewife finds her monotonous life altered when her childhood sweetheart returns to town.
Director: Mu Fei | Stars: Chaoming Cui, Wei Li, Yu Shi, Wei Wei
Votes: 3,356
PC. 8/10.
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